Thursday, 10 December 2015

Few months back, accidently I read about Jadav Payeng. The story of him simply filled me with joy and amazement. The amazing story of the person who single handedly without any outward support created a forest doesn’t require anyone’s introduction, today.

The forest created by him is called today ‘Molai’ forest, named after his pet name. It is situated in Jorhat, Assam, India.

The whole day I spent reading and watching documentaries on Jadav Payeng. It began with a thought that got triggered with Delhi Government decision to follow even-and-odd formula for vehicular movement in the city. My thought on pollution led me to pour again extensively about Jadav Payeng.

After reading about his achievement from different sources: blogs, news website, movies, documentaries. Something was not settling in me. It was: How to describe Payeng, the person?

In one of his interview, he says, “I don't live in flat, I live in forest. Five of my bench mates in school have become Engineers and one has become Sales Tax Superintendent. They have already made money and living in flats but forest is my flat. I am the happiest person on this earth.”

Here is Payeng who earns his livelihood by selling cow milk and sustaining his family. He lives in a hut near the forest. But he is happy and content leading a pleasant life. Looking around, I don’t find anyone who can remotely say, they are happy or living pleasantly. We have forgotten the ingredient called ‘happiness’ in our life. With all gadgets and comfort around us, the state of happiness is becoming a promise; the promise to be broken.

His achievement cannot be described in words, the more I think, the more meaning it brings forth. It is not merely planting trees for years after years. And one day it becomes a forest. No it is not like that. To grow a forest means to create an ecosystem and for this, inclusiveness is required with every component of flora and fauna. Beginning with trees, to microorganisms, to animals and birds to the creation of a nature’s ecosystem, everything must fall in place. And Jadav Payeng has done this single handedly. He is rightly termed as the ECO-SAVIOUR.

He gives me the impression more of a Karmic Yogi. He has been doing his work joyfully as if dancing through his work. He has always been involved himself in planting trees as if that is his LIFE. The description of him as the “Forest Man of India” doesn’t carry much essence to me but his involvement with his work is more meaningful. The mother Nature is not outward for Payeng. It is inclusive for him. He takes mother nature as an integral part of him. And this, he said in many interviews. In one interview, he said, ‘we are all animals; if there is any difference it is that we wear clothes’. His thoughts absorb me like teachings of a spiritual human being; who is teaching all of us to become ‘human’. As a Karmic Yogi, his activities are more in the process of liberation than entanglement.

Padma Shri Jadav Payeng must be honoured with the highest civilian award of the Republic of India, the Bharat Ratna. That would be my wish.

Sunday, 29 November 2015

Recently I came across the post on fb, mentioning about the dilapidated condition of our community temple, Shri Radhamadhab Jew Temple at Radhakund, and need of its rejuvenation. In 2013 I had first time visited this temple (or you can say vrindavan) for a very short duration with my family, and my mood was not at all in good shape at that time even being at dham, so I could not observe much within the temple. Also I didn’t go even to pay obeisance to nearby radha kund, though I was seeing from distance. Now I regret that moment, that I should have used the opportunity anyhow. So in Shri Radha Madhav temple I observed bishnupriya manipuri ladies doing services- like cutting vegetables, cleaning etc. I saw in altar, beautiful two Radha Madhav deity one big and one small in our bishnupriya Manipuri traditional dress (Radha rani was in polie), they were looking so beautiful, that I was just staring appreciating their beauty and by side was deity of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Their darshan gave some solace to my bad mood, although outwardly I was maintaining as if still in bad mood. One thing I observed that some parts of temple was broken, I am not able to recall the exact picture of temple now, but overall I felt it was needed renovation, the only BM temple in vrindavan that too in prime location in radha kund.

As I mentioned before that being in that place I didn’t even visit radha kund, it was my misfortune, that I came to know now after knowing so much glories of radha kund. Let me share some of these glories which may encourage us to also care for Sri radha madhav jew temple which is located in vicinity.

Srila Rupa Goswami (one of the chief disciple of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) in his Updeshamrit tells why Radha kunda is great. It is mentioned in 9th verse of Updeshamrit “The holy place known as Mathurā is spiritually superior to Vaikuṇṭha, the transcendental world, because the Lord appeared there. Superior to Mathurā-purī is the transcendental forest of Vṛndāvana because of Kṛṣṇa’s rāsa-līlā pastimes. And superior to the forest of Vṛndāvana is Govardhana Hill, for it was raised by the divine hand of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and was the site of His various loving pastimes. And, above all, the superexcellent Śrī Rādhā-kuṇḍa stands supreme, for it is overﬂooded with the ambrosial nectarean prema of the Lord of Gokula, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Where, then, is that intelligent Person who is unwilling to serve this divine Rādhā-kuṇḍa, which is situated at the foot of Govardhana Hill?”

Radha-kuṇḍa, at the foot of Govardhana, is superior to all because it is there that love of Kṛṣṇa overﬂows. In Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā) it is stated that when Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu ﬁrst visited the area of Vraja-bhumi, He could not at ﬁrst ﬁnd the location of Radha-kuṇḍa. Finally He found the holy spot, and there was a small pond there. He took His bath in that small pond. Later the pond was excavated by Lord Caitanya’s devotees, headed ﬁrst by the Six Gosvamis, such as Rupa and Raghunatha dasa. Presently there is a large lake known as Radha-kuṇḍa there. Who, then, would give up Radha-kuṇḍa and try to reside elsewhere? No person with transcendental intelligence would do so. The importance of Radha-kuṇḍa, however, cannot be realized by other Vaiṣṇava sampradāyas, nor can persons uninterested in the devotional service of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu understand the spiritual importance and divine nature of Radha-kuṇḍa. Thus Radha-kuṇḍa is mainly worshiped by the Gauḍiya Vaiṣṇavas, the followers of Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

In the next 11th verse it is mentioned “Of the many objects of favored delight and of all the lovable damsels of Vraja-bhūmi, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is certainly the most treasured object of Kṛṣṇa’s love. And, in every respect, Her divine kuṇḍa is described by great sages as similarly dear to Him. Undoubtedly Rādhā-kuṇḍa is very rarely attained even by the great devotees; therefore it is even more difﬁcult for ordinary devotees to attain. If one simply bathes once within those holy waters, one’s pure love of Kṛṣṇa is fully aroused.”

So fortunate we are that we have the opportunity to be near to radha kund and those devotees who stay there and perform devotional service. If Radha Madhav temple get renovated and by contribution if it has even moderate facility for the pilgrims, the contributors get benefitted and the pilgrims get benefitted by krsna bhakti, because of its being located in the most most most supreme location within vrindavan.

Upadesamrta book (in English nectar of Instruction) one of the best literary works by Srila Rupa Goswami, giving guidance to those who wants to advance in krsna bhakti. I recommend to read this book, very small containing only 11 verses. And support Shri Radha Madhav temple, so that we as community can take advantage of being located in radha kund.

Friday, 27 November 2015

Final night of kartik month, the Rasa Purnima. When Lord Krsna Performed Rasa dance with gopis approximately five thousand years ago. It is the most confidential part of Krishna’s pastimes (Lila). How do we understand this pastime? Is this a type of just boy and girl dancing as we have experienced? We understand this pastimes also in that level, because we don’t have any better understanding. When we don’t have better understanding on spiritual qualities of the lord, it becomes difficult to understand such pastimes and we end up misunderstanding such pastimes and thus imitate in our lives.

This article doesn’t contain anything about this pastimes, because neither the writer is qualified to jot down such an elevated pastimes which is on spiritual realm by the lord, nor the readers are qualified to understand it out of what they had generally experienced in mundane world. Spiritually elevated devotee of lord Krishna, who try to spread the lords message never discuss these pastimes openly in general public in any kind of Bhagwat saptah or something. Chaitanya mahaprabhu never discussed the dealings of lord Krishna with gopis openly in public. This are very confidential discussion to be discussed only within pure devotees of lord Krishna. It is mentioned in Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 13.24, Purport:

"We cannot understand the affairs of the spiritual world on the basis of our experience in the material world. The Lord's pastimes with the gopis are therefore misunderstood by mundane scholars and word-wranglers. The parakiya-rasa of the spiritual world should not be discussed, except by one who is very advanced in pure devotional service. The parakiya-rasa in the spiritual world and that in the material world are not comparable."

Lord krishna’s pastimes with gopis is mentioned in 10 Canto of Srimad Bhagwatam. One is recommended to not directly jump into that section and read. Otherwise people will end up misunderstanding Krishna, who is supreme lord himself and try to imitate his confidential pastimes, which is even more abominable. Thus one should first try to understand God by Reading Bhagwat Gita first, which is undergraduate study in understanding the spiritual science, then should Jump into Srimad Bhagwatam 1st canto and gradually progressing towards 10th canto. Srimad Bhagwatam is considered Post Graduate study.

Thus hearing Krishna pastimes from unauthorised source would not help us spiritually indeed it will increase our lusty desire. Sukadeva Gosvami concludes the episode of the rasa-lila in Srimad Bhagwatam by pointing out that if a person hears from the right source about the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, who is Viṣṇu Himself, and the gopis, who are expansions of His energy, then he will be relieved of the most dangerous type of disease, namely lust. Generally when people hear about Rasa-Lila from unauthorised person, people become more and more implicated in their lusty desire.

Thursday, 26 November 2015

Bishnupriya Manipuri literary organisations are being invited to give support to the Government of India initiative of delivering knowledge about all the languages in India in multimedia (text, audio, video, images) formats through an online portal.

The project Bharatavani is a part of creating a Knowledge Society in the age of Digital India. The project is a initiative by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

The Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysuru has been entrusted with the task of implementing the project. The project will be guided by advisory committees on content and technology. Providing available knowledge already created by Government and publicly funded institutions all over India, and putting it across for the public usage, by deploying a robust, interactive, user friendly web tools is the main objective of Bharatavani Project.

Support from Bishnupriya Manipuri literary organisation is sought to generate leads about the content (dictionaries, knowledge resources, encyclopaedic information on non-fiction topics like agriculture, Culture, History, Science, Technology, Ecology etc., institutional publications like academies, NGO publications). And to provide list of people who are working in the "field of lesser known communities, remote areas where endangered languages exist."

Bishnupriya Manipuri Writers' Forum, a guwahati-based literary organisation, has been contacted in this regard through Bishnupriya Manipuri Online.

Sunday, 22 November 2015

I received Firaal 2, the Kang Special Issue, at Sri Sri Bhubneshwar Sadhu Thakur birth celebration in New Delhi. I could say participants were excited to receive the copies. I too was excited to grab a copy of the magazine. I was too elated, having the honour to get the glimpse of the magazine since it is being created by our people, for the people. At the venue, I just gave a glance to the pages, to the content, and to the design etc. I didn't read a word at the venue so that I could read later with my speed and comfort.

So I am here with my thoughts on the Firaal 2. The Firaal 2 is a power-packed product. I have gone through the English section of the magazine. I would be limiting myself to the English part content.

If I have to limit myself --- what I would be remembering after one year of reading the magazine. Surely I would be remembering Indrajit Sinha's interview for personal reason. Second would be Rajargaon Youth Forum written by Santosh Kr Singha, and another would be The Wedding of Ingellei's Daughter by Late Bimal Singha (translated by Karunamay Sinha).

Coming to the interview of Indrajit Sinha, I liked it very much, since it is near to my heart and it is experiential. Since childhood I along with my parents had been travelling the same route that he followed from one corner of India (Guwahati) to another corner (Jammu), many times. He definitely would have got awestruck with the vividness of people, culture, landscape getting unfolded in his long tortuous journey.

He definitely has explored and discovered many latent dimensions of himself and of his surroundings that we all could not go through in our lifetime. He has done a smart work, the most short cut route to understand oneself and the surroundings that we are enveloped into. That too riding it in a bicycle. That is phenomenal. The courage and conviction that he has showed is exemplary. And these wouldn't have come had he not taken the decision. He took the decision that was burning in his heart. Many people fail to take decision, simple decision in their whole life. Ahh!

About the article Rajargaon Youth Forum written by Santosh Kr Singha, the piece is purely journalistic. The article is newsworthy and it has all the flavours that are labelled 'Human Interest Stories' in journalism. Very insightful and relevant at the present time. It brings forth the power of youths, its role in the contemporary period. They can do what their elders failed to do in decades. I was in shock reading "they did not even manage to have a Kaang/Rath for the last 60 years". If a simple Kaang took so many decades, what about other aspects of our life : centuries would be the answer!

I always love reading Karunamay Sinha's stories. This story translated by him took me to the world of Ingellei. I feel fortunate reading the translated story. While reading it I felt as if I am living with the story, I could see every character of the story with my eyes --- Dhanbabu, Ingellei, Rita, I could feel their trauma, their anxiety with the changing time that they had to undergo. It sweepingly took me many decades ago to our village set up in which the characters lived. Honestly speaking, as a layman reader, literary appreciation is a skill that I have not been equipped with. I wish someone endowed with the skill of literary appreciation give their thought and insight. Rest I loved it.

With respect to other stories, I read each and every word written by the contributors. Whether it is Rebati Mohan Sinha's Mor Australia Sofor or it is Omrita Sinha's predicament Aamar Tharhan Na Harpeya, or it is KP's insight on the Internet, Daniel Kaufman revelation about our language, or it is on Anjan Kumar Singha, or it is the funny love story by Kunal Sinha, the length and breadth of the content is exhilarating and rich. And not to mention the Editorial, it really speaks what it is.

Wednesday, 18 November 2015

Who is a bonafide spiritual master?

In this yuga first of all hardly any one interest in understanding the self, God and relation between God and living entity. Even if little interest comes they are devoured by so called cheating gurus. Actually those who want to be cheated they get cheating gurus. We consider spiritual life as if some sabzi mandi market where we bargain. So we generally reject those who are strict and adheres to regulative principle as mentioned sastras, rather we choose those guru who tell us do whatever we want to do, eat whatever, just pay this much to get mantra and chant this mantra, perfection will come. But all this are bogus.

i) The bonafide guru should be from four authorised Vaisnav parampara. There are four bonafide Vaisnav sampradaya-

Our Gaudiya Vaisnav sampradaya comes in Brahma Sampradaya that is why it is also called Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya.

ii) A bonafide guru has full control over his senses. As mentioned by Srila Rupa Goswami, (one of the chief disciple of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu) in Upadesamrta “A sober person who can tolerate the urge to speak, the mind’s demands, the actions of anger and the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is qualiﬁed to make disciples all over the world”.

iii) The guru should be one hundred percent fully Krishna bhakta. As Chaitanya mahaprabhu tells “kibā vipra, kibā nyāsī, śūdra kene naya , yei kṛṣṇa-tattva-vettā, sei 'guru' haya” - It does not matter whether a person is a vipra (learned scholar in Vedic wisdom) or is born in a lower family, or is in the renounced order of life-if he is master in the science of Kṛṣṇa, he is the perfect and bona fide spiritual master." (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 8.128) So without being a master in the science of Kṛṣṇa science, no one is a bona fide spiritual master.

We know from the biography of Sadhu Thakur, how he is blessed by Srimati Radha Rani and sakhis. He perfectly matches with all qualification mentioned by our previous acharyas. On this occasion I want to dedicate a vaisnav bhajan to Great Krishna Bhakta, Sadhu Thakur, written by Bhakti Vinoda Thakur

I do not find the strength to carry on alone the sankirtana of the holy name of Hari. Please bless me by giving me just one drop of faith with which to obtain the great treasure of the holy name of Krsna.

Krsna is yours. You have the power to give Him to me. I am simply your servant running behind you shouting, "Krsna! Krsna!"

*The six passions are those pertaining to words, the mind, anger, the tongue, the stomach and the genitals. The six faults are overeating, attachment to material things, inability to follow regulative principles, sense gratification, useless idle talk, and impure habits.

My visit to the celebration of Sri Sri Bhubneshwar Sadhu Thakur birth anniversary in New Delhi on 15 November 2015, I would say was the calling of Him. The celebration took place at Kali Mandir in Tilak Nagar, walking distance from the Tilak Nagar Metro Station. I said, the “calling of Him” the reason being that my little mind understood the very essence of Him in our life, that too of mine. Let me not stretch to that sphere.

The climate was beautiful since it had no itching of the summer and stiffness of cold. It was a very beautiful sunny day, the most pleasant weather that we in Delhi can wish for. The whole atmosphere at the venue was ‘Bishnupriya Manipuri’, with the chirping and whispering of the language, and the visual appeal of the women attire made everything of the great day.

It was indeed a nice feeling meeting with known people like BN Sinha, Surajit, Ramanuj, Chinglang (he is from Jiribam, once a neighbour at Inderpuri), Bishwajeet, and many more. More than that identifying some faces that I am not acquainted with but know them as being Bishnupriya Manipuri.

Beside all these, a sense how time flew so fast came when I saw many parents carrying their new born babies, and children oblivious of the surrounding made their day running here and there.

I was utterly surprised to the attendance in comparison to my previous visits. It had the numbers that could be accommodated at anyone’s home backyard. That numbers are nothing in comparison to past celebrations. My marketing head questioned --- in this Facebook era, how this could be possible. The numbers are nothing when everyone with mobile and desktop are showing their presence online. Is it failure of communication? Absolutely Not, came the answer. Then…

What went wrong to the presence of minuscule participation? Is it migration being the reason that many of our people left Delhi altogether. Yes many families left Delhi, but in equal number lot of people would have dropped at New Delhi Railway Station since then. The reason lies somewhere, might be a big population on the same day had to attend their office. Or it might be that population of equal proportion didn’t wake up on time. Or it may be that a population of equal size doesn’t want to waste their precious Sunday with something.

As soon as I came to my sense, I was in front of sumptuous food that includes dal, paneer, khir, brinjal fry. Am I missing an item? Name it, so that next time I don’t miss it. I had a stomach full lunch with lot of people around me. Enjoying it to the hilt with stuff filled till my neck. It was indeed a very well organized event. Everything was in order.

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Yesterday and day before yesterday many cities celebrated the avirbhav-tithi of great saint of our Bishnupriya Manupuri community Sri Sri Bhubneshwar Sadhu Thakur on a grand scale. We are quite fortunate that a great soul like him taken birth in our community and thus glorified our community by his mere presence. We Bishnupriya Manipuris are quite fortunate in this matter, as we are first of all Gaudiya Vaisnav, the follower of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, over and above that, great Krishna bhakta came in our community - sri sri bhubneshwar sadhu Thakur. Chaitanya mahaprabhu says “bhārata-bhūmite haila manuṣya-janma yāra , janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra” (CC Adi 9.41) - Anyone who has taken birth on the holy land of Bhāratavarṣa, India," janma sārthaka kari, "should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.

So we are so fortunate to have taken birth in holy land India and within that taken birth into gaudiya vaisnav Bishnupriya Manipuri community. So as a follower of Chaitanya mahaprabhu, we should not only imitate the mechanical life of western world, indeed should aim towards real aim of life which is not sense gratification or economic development but knowing oneself that we are not this body but soul, and on that principle re-establishing ones relationship with Lord and distributing the same knowledge to others (kara para- upakara). So what is the purpose of great soul taking birth to this earth, what should we get benefit from them?

It says that to make advancement in spiritual life, a bonafide guru (spiritual master) is very important who guide us in achieving our goal. So taking shelter of a bonafide spiritual master like Sri Sri Bhubneswar Sadhu Thakur, through his mercy we can also taste the nectar of the lotus feet of Lord Krishna and Srimati Radha Rani. Because of many incident which is happening now-a-days related to so called gurus, has spoiled the word-“guru”, people have very bad impression on this matter, which is true also. That’s is why bonafide spiritual master term has been used which are different from so called cheating gurus. Let us try to understand the following two questions- what is the need of a bonafide guru and who is a bonafide guru?

Why there is a need of a bonafide spiritual master?

i) There is actually no need of bonafide spiritual master unless one is serious about spiritual advancement. Because having a guru is not a fashion statement as we see now a days people keep guru out of fashion.

ii) To know any process, to learn anything we need a teacher to understand things clearly as we learnt in school and colleges. Similarly to understand the science of God, process of bhakti yoga we require a guru who make us understand this subject matter clearly as he is also a self realised soul on this matter. As when we try to understand this subject matter of spiritual science on our own endeavour there is every chance that we interpret in our own way and the original essence remain untouched. And this is what happening now a days everyone and anyone writing their own commentary on Bhagwat Gita interpreting the science in their own way.

iii) Guru is an external manifestation of Supreme Lord Krishna who is within all living entities as a super soul. Those sincere soul who try to increase their devotion to Krishna, Krishna understanding their inclination send his servant to those sincere soul. Some people proclaim one do not need guru to approach Lord, indeed guru is hurdle on path. But this statement is wrong. So those who proclaim there is no need of guru to approach Lord, themselves make self contradictory statement by ending up as a guru themselves. Thus one require bonafide guru to understand real science.

iv) Lord Krishna, the supreme lord himself, the cause of all causes had a spiritual master Sandipani muni. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the incarnation of lord Krishna himself also had a spiritual master. The supreme lord, from whom everything emanates, fountainhead of all knowledge, why they also had spiritual master when they were on earth? To teach all living entity that to advance spiritually we need spiritual master who guide us.

v) Some excerpts from the scripture about importance of guru.

It is mentioned in 7th canto Srimad Bhagwatam that only in human body which is considered as a valuable boat we can cross over the ocean of nescience, guru is the captain of the boat to guide the boat in plying across the ocean of nescience. The instruction of Kṛṣṇa is a favorable breeze. One must use all these facilities to cross over the ocean of nescience. Since the spiritual master is the captain, one must serve the spiritual master very sincerely so that by his mercy one will be able to get the mercy of the Supreme Lord.

Lord Krishna tells in Bhagwat Gita, chapter 4 ‘’this supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost. That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science.” This verse signifies only through bonafide spiritual master in bonafide disciplic succession, the guru parampara, we can get the knowledge about supreme as it is without any addition or deletion whimsically.

In verse 34-35 chapter 4 Bhagwat Gita, Lord says “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth. Having obtained real knowledge from a self-realized soul, you will never fall again into such illusion, for by this knowledge you will see that all living beings are but part of the Supreme, or, in other words, that they are Mine”. This verse againconveys the importance of spiritual master, who actually is spiritual master and what should be the mood while approaching a spiritual master.

So great souls like SadhuThakur don’t appear just to get piece of appreciation from us that oh they are so devoted to the lord. They appear to show us path, to set an example and to give us mercy so that we also achieve the goal of life.

Agartala, Feb. 17 (ANI): The Bishnupriya Manipuri community recently organized a seminar-cum-cultural programme at the Muktadhara Auditorium here with the goal of rejuvenating their diminishing culture.

The two-day programme, which was organized by the Socio-Cultural Society of Bishnupriya Manipuri, was inaugurated by Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar in the presence of the state's Cultural Affairs Minister Bhanu Lal Saha.

The main focus of the programme was to generate awareness among the younger generation about the community's rich cultural heritage.

Chief Minister Sarkar assured the community of government's help in preserving their culture and language.

"For the development of socio-culture, language and education, you people have taken new initiative, and if you need any help from our side, then without any hesitation, please discuss it with us. We, with our limited resources, shall try our best to help you people in your goal for preserving your society, heritage, culture, language and economy," said Sarkar.

The Bishnupriya Manipuri are a group of Aryan people living mainly in parts of Assam, Tripura and Bangladesh. The religious customs and traditions of Bishnupriya Manipuris are unique and they speak a language of Indo-Aryan origin which is quite different from Bengali or Assamese.

"Bishnupriya Manipuri is one of the microscopic communities mainly residing in the north-eastern states (of India) and very few in Bangladesh. We do not have a land of our own, but possess own language, dress and a culture, which is very rich," said P.K. Shinha, one of the organizers.

"The community, which is without any infrastructure, is fighting for survival. For the survival of this microscopic community, there is no adequate infrastructure. The Socio Cultural Society of Bishnupriya Manipuri was raised in 2012 for development of this community's socio-culture and its revival," he added.

Towards the 18th century, Vaishnavism became very popular in Manipur during the reign of King Bhagya Chandra and as a result Vaishnav Palakirtan with Mridanga and Kartalaa became the most prominent influence in Bishnupriya Manipuri cultural activities.

The programme was organized to exhibit the rich socio-culture of the Bishnupriya Manipuri among the people of the state and especially the youths of the community aiming at reviving they culture in a systematic manner. (ANI)

GUWAHATI, April 19 – A multilingual poets’ meet was organised at the Guwahati Press Club here at 3 pm today, a press release said.

A number of poets who write in different languages like Bishnupriya Manipuri, Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Mising, Rajasthani, Punjabi, Rabha, Boro and Hajong, attended the meet.

Lakshmindra Sinha, president of the Writers’ Forum presided over the meet. He warmly welcomed and greeted the poets and audience on behalf of the Forum and presented a brief outline on Bishnupriya Manipuri poetry.

Well-known poetess of the State Mira Thakur, conducted the meet and poet Kapurchand Jain delivered the inaugural speech.

The multilingual poets’ meet was organised in view of the completion of five years of the Bishnupriya Manipuri Writers’ Forum since its inception in 2009 and also to celebrate Cherou or Bishu festival of the Bishnupriya Manipuri community. It was aimed at fostering a sense of brotherhood among the poets of different languages in the region as well as to promote love for poetry among the people.

Guwahati: The National Book Trust would make a concerted effort to revive languages of the northeast that are facing the threat of extinction, said newly-appointed director of the organization and noted writer Rita Choudhury on Saturday.

On the measures planned by NBT to save NE languages that are dying, the director said NBT would lay emphasis on it on the basis of priority after carefully considering all factors.

UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger has listed more than five NE languages as vulnerable, definitely endangered, severely endangered, critically endangered and extinct.

Unesco's list is based on the extent of endangerment and on intergenerational language transmission.

A language is vulnerable when it is spoken mostly by children but only at their homes. It is endangered when it no longer enjoys the status of mother tongue. It is severely endangered if it is only spoken by elder generations. Critically endangered means the usage of the language is restricted to elder generations and even they speak it infrequently.

As per its update in June, Bishnupriya Manipuri language has been listed as vulnerable. Some other languages that featured in the atlas are Tai Phake marked as endangered, Adi and Galo listed as vulnerable, Pasi as definitely endangered, Ahom as extinct, Ao as vulnerable and Hmar also as vulnerable. The Sahitya Akademi awardee writer said stress should be laid on folk tales and oral traditions in some of the indigenous languages.

Is there any way to change / transfer SBI Branch from one place to another?

Yes, one can easily transfer SBI Branch from one city to another. That is without visiting the home branch.

Recently I had to move my saving account from SBI Guwahati University Branch (Assam) to SBI Chhawala Branch, New Delhi. I was bit emotional to my decision since there would not be any reason in future to visit Gauhati University, and alongside the areas like Azara, Borjhar.

The same procedure I followed to change my wife SBI Saving Account from Guwahati Airport Branch to the same bank in New Delhi.

Anyway, here is the process:

For the sake of simplicity, let us assume that you would like to transfer your SBI Saving Account from City A (SBI-A) to SBI Branch (SBI-B) located in city B. Presently you are staying in city B.

1. Write an application to The Manager, SBI Branch i.e., SBI-A mentioning the reason of the change. The reason might be that you no longer stay in the city A and you are residing in city B. That would be enough.

In the application, do mention the city B SBI Branch name, IFSC Code, address etc.

2. Support your application with signed photocopy of your SBI Saving Account Passbook.

3. Do mention in the application, previous personal details like your address and mobile number and your present address and mobile number.

4. Sign it. Don't forget to put date on the application.

5. Send the application with supporting documents by India Post Speed Post service to SBI-A. Note down the article no so that you can track it online later.

6. Wait for a week time. Log in SBI Online website, you will find the change of bank's name.

7. Now you visit SBI-B branch with supporting documents to fulfill the KYC (Know Your Customer) norms. Take it with you photocopies of identity proof, residence proof, passport size photograph. And submit it. Don't forget to take the original documents, the clerk would like to cross-check it.

Note:

There would not be any change to your ATM/Debit Card Pin No and SBI Netbanking details.